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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday - Back to America Cemetery

Back in June I blogged about meeting two new cousins, Jean and Dee Dee, as a result of this blog. During our meeting in Kokomo we talked about the trip mom and I made to America Cemetery. I expressed my desire to return in the fall after the poison ivy had died back to do more research and some clean up. Jean and Dee Dee volunteered to join us and in October we returned to America and did a tremendous amount of work.

Dee Dee had also visited the cemetery in the summer time and both of us expressed surprise at how large it appeared in the fall. With the leaves off the trees, and all the bushes and underbrush dying off we were able to see more stones then either of us realized were there!

We first had to rake all the leaves to the perimeter of the cemetery and then began work brushing off and photographing the stones. We used water to clean some stones off and were able to read names that we previously could not read.

By then end of a very long day we had found and photographed most of the cemetery. We even uncovered a couple that were not listed in the cemetery records as being buried there! Sadly, among the stones not found were some of my relatives. I had such strong hopes of finding them but now I realize we most likely never will. If the stones are there they are buried or sunken under the ground.

However, I am excited to say that of the 77 interments listed for the cemetery only 14 stones were not found. That is amazing considering the last burial in the cemetery took place in 1877, over 133 years ago!The entire cemetery can be found on Find A Grave.

There are some stories to be told among those buried there and I'm going to post some of those in the coming days. My family or not, they are someone's family and I would like to see them connected to them somehow.

First up will be the story of the four little boys....but where are their parents?

Preserve the Pensions!

About Me

I have been tromping through cemeteries since I was a little girl. As the daughter of a mother deeply involved in family research every vacation included a visit to a cemetery! Now all grown up and actively involved in my own genealogy research, I have found a passion in preserving and restoring old cemeteries. In my free time I volunteer for Find a Grave. If we share a common surname please contact me! I would be glad to share and exchange information with you.